(Learning the Buteyko method by modules)

This video features Dr. Artour Rakhimov who explains why reducing insulin intake is important for people with diabetes when starting breathing retraining or doing Buteyko exercises: Diabetes Treatment and Insulin Reduction.

Breathing retraining and the Buteyko method are great tools to treat diabetes. We had students with insulin-dependent diabetes, and our observations are in complete agreement with clinical observations of Soviet doctors who succesfully applied the Buteyko technique on hundreds of their patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes. The results are the same: with up to a certain number for the morning CP (body oxygen test), there is no need for insulin or other medication since blood glucose control is normal naturally (within medical norms). This number (goal) is provided in the bonus content below.

It is common that those practicing reduced breathing and breathing exercises increase body oxygenation (that we measure using the CP or body oxygen test). Hence, any medications (insulin included) that help to reduce blood sugar can potentially cause problems. Let us consider when and why.

If diabetics use the same insulin dose

Intensive breathing exercise sessions and quick growth
in body oxygenation sharply increase the organism’s sensitivity
to circulating blood insulin and increase
production of its own insulin due to better perfusion and oxygenation of
the pancreas in people with diabetes. This effect can happen during and after a single
breathing session (as fast as in 5-10 minutes) or as
an accumulative effect due to a fast growth in the body
oxygen levels within hours or days after starting first
breathing lessons. Hence, taking
the same insulin dose or using the same dose of other
medication can easily lead to hypoglycemic shock or severe
hypoglycemia (low blood glucose levels), which is a very
serious condition that is potentially fatal.

How to control blood sugar (glucose) levels and insulin intake

In order to prevent these complications and the effect, the
common practice of Russian Buteyko medical doctors include the following
suggestions for any person with diabetes taking medication
to reduce their blood glucose. These suggestions are provided below as your bonus content.

Most diabetics, when they cooperate with
their doctors, can safely decrease their insulin intake about 2 times after
they start their program of breathing retraining described here. It is also a
common practice for modern diabetics to monitor their blood glucose levels and adjust medication
accordingly. Note that in the 1970s and 80s, when Buteyko was developing and teaching their technique to hundreds of diabetics, this was not common. At those times, blood glucose tests were conducted only about once a month. Therefore, one needs to take this factor into account when reading clinical reports of Buteyko and his doctors in relation to insulin dosage and diabetes.